Louisiana Student Archers Shine at 2017 NASP National Tournament

May 17, 2017 – Benton Elementary School captured the elementary national championship in the National Archery in Schools Program (NASP) National Tournament held in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 11-13

It is the second time a Louisiana school won a national title. Benton Middle School won the first in 2016, taking the middle school national championship. Benton Elementary won this year’s championship over 179 other schools. It also finished fifth in the NASP/IBO 3-D championship. Benton Elementary and other Louisiana schools taking part in the NASP National Tournament are part of the Archery in Louisiana Schools Program (ALAS), administered by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF).

Kingston Elementary School, located seven miles from Benton Elementary, placed second in bullseye behind Benton Elementary. Kingston also placed second in the NASP/IBO 3-D portion of the NASP National Tournament. Kingston finished just 25 points behind Benton in bullseye and only 22 back of the national champion in 3-D.

On the individual side, Aiden Jones of Haughton Middle School recorded the highest score ever by a Louisiana archer at the NASP National Tournament. Jones shot a 297 and finished second in the male middle school division. Only three archers fired a higher score at the tournament at 298. Jones’ score placed him in the top five male shooters overall.

Jones participated in the NASP National Scholarship Shoot-off at the awards ceremony. He recorded a score of 49 out of 50 at the shoot-off, sending him to another single-arrow shoot off. Jones came away with a $5,000 scholarship courtesy of New Archery Products.

Two other Louisiana archers brought home individual awards at the event. Hannah McKenzie of Benton Elementary placed third amongst elementary school females in bullseye and fifth in 3-D. Madeline Lowry, also of Benton Elementary, placed fourth in 3-D.

A total of 14,492 archers from across the United States competed in the 2017 National Tournament, including 349 from Louisiana. Louisiana archers earned the opportunity to attend the NASP National Tournament by qualifying at the ALAS State Tournament in Shreveport in March. To see all scores from the NASP National Tournament visit www.nasptournaments.org[4].

LDWF would like to extend congratulations to all Louisiana student archers and coaches who competed at the NASP National Tournament. Many of these students will move on to compete at the NASP World Tournament in Orlando, Florida, on July 21-22.

The ALAS Program is part of NASP, designed to teach students in grades 4-12 international target style archery. The NASP/IBO 3-D program features students shooting life-like 3-D animal targets with the same equipment used in the NASP program. The ALAS/NASP program is available to all schools in Louisiana and grants are available to assist with funding.

For more information on the ALAS program, contact Eric Shanks at eshanks@wlf.la.gov[5] or 225-765-2355.